Each year our ranch is set ablaze with wildflowers. Our managed grazing techniques over the last 150 years has provided the ideal habitat for this phenomenon. Visitors to the ranch can travel along Shell Creek Rd., south of the small town of Shandon (pop. 1200) to find these blooms.
In 2020 we estimate that we had over 5,000 visitors (see the SLO Tribune piece here) and in 2019 we saw over 10,000 visitors due to the super bloom. In wet years, a seasonal creek (Shell Creek) winds it way through the ranch. The bloom usually commences with baby blue eyes and finishes with the fragrant and beautiful lupine. In between, you can find tidy tips, California poppies, goldfield, buttercups, owl’s clover and many more. This is such a spectacular part of the ranch each year that we decided to make it one of the cornerstones of our wine labels. Three of our labels are adorned with a flower; Lupine on the Petite Sirah, Owl’s Clover on the Rose’ of Valdiguie, and Buttercups on the Chenin Blanc.
